Why having a team when investing is important?
I have a lot of people ask me when looking to get into the US market, what is the first thing you need to do to get started? My answer is always the same…
Build your team on the ground!
This is, I believe, the most critical and important step to do and do well. If you are looking to purchase an investment in your neighbourhood, or a nearby suburb, or even a nearby town, you are able to visit the property, do the walkthroughs and inspections, query the agents, etc yourself. Not such an issue here, you can do your own due diligence and trust yourself.
But if you lived in Sydney and wanted to buy a property in Brisbane, you would need to ensure you get a good agent over there who you can rely on to give you the right information, ask the right questions for you, I would even recommend finding a good buyer’s agent in that area to work for you, wouldn’t you agree?
Same with the US. There are a few people who are important you find good ones and people you can rely on. Without this, it can be almost “pot luck” to make sure you have a good deal. You can only do so much due diligence from afar, without walking the property, knowing the neighbourhood, checking comparable values in the region, etc, you are gambling at best…
Even here in Australia, you are going to need an accountant you can trust, foreign exchange company to enable you to convert funds to USD (don’t use the big banks, they will gouge you with fees!) possibly even a solicitor or notary (like a Justice of the Peace for US documents to witness signatures etc)
In the US it’s even more important… You will need Realtors, Wholesalers possibly, home inspection companies, Title company, general contractors, insurance agents, property managers (oh my, an important one!) US tax agents to lodge tax returns for you; the list goes on…
A lot of this you will need later throughout the process and won’t need some of these suppliers until you have purchased a property, but it’s good to understand the process of finding them when the time comes.
It’s also a good idea to set up a US phone number. Now this doesn’t have to be getting a plan or SIM with a US phone provider, but there are some companies that offer this on VOIP methods, Skype is one of the best. It can make it easier for the US team to contact you as often, they can be put off with calling overseas numbers.
Without building this team, this support network, you are really gambling on your investments. You might come across a good deal, good property, but its also likely there will be issues you were not able to see from halfway across the world.
Investing globally is not any harder than locally, just takes a different approach to get it right. You need to be able to find and trust others instead of always relying on yourself. I always look at investing as a business, the treat is as such and it will treat you well. Become that leader, that manager of people and your business and investments will thrive…